Holiday Shopping: Boston Real Estate

November 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

One of the best examples of a self-fulfilling prophecy is in the seasonality of the Boston real estate market. Every year, as Thanksgiving approaches, home sellers ask me, “Does it make sense to put the home on market now? There are no buyers looking.”

From potential home buyers I hear, “ Should we wait until Spring to buy? There are no homes on the market now.”

Yet, despite the expectations for a quiet holiday season, almost every year I am on the phone putting together a deal while checking-up on my stuffed Tofurky. This year the real estate market seasonality will be less pronounced than ever.

Both buyers and sellers will find advantages of pursuing their real estate goals during the holiday season.

Home Seller Advantages to Holiday Home Selling

Low Competition: Inventory shortage is what characterized our Boston real estate market the past few months. Newton, Brookline, Cambridge, Arlington and Brighton have all had too few homes for sale to satisfy demand, leaving many buyers still looking.

My friend Marilyn Messenger wrote a great article, The 5 Reasons the Sell Your House Now! She outlines the benefits of selling your home during the holiday season. One of the top reasons is the lower competition as many home sellers decide to wait or take their home off market for the holidays.

Serious Buyers: Marilyn also reminds us the buyers coming through a home between Thanksgiving and New Years’ are serious. These are determined buyers, who are not going out in harsh weather during overscheduled holidays to look at a home for kicks.

This year, home sellers can expect buyers who are eager, ready to buy after losing out on multiple offer situations in September and October.

Holiday Home Buyer Advantages

Fewer Buyers Looking: The worry of fewer homes on market is balanced by many buyers exiting the market and new ones waiting until 2013. Fewer buyers translate into fewer multiple-offer situations, and home sellers who are more likely to entertain your offer and work with you.

Shorter Mortgage Queue: Underwriting mortgages is taking weeks if you get stuck with the wrong bank, and closing delays are common. Much of the refinancing business will waiting until January, leaving your attorney with more time to work for you.

Homes are Ready to Sell: There will be two types of properties on the market. First, the “leftovers” from the busy fall market. These homes haven’t sold because of poor marketing or they were overpriced at critical moments. Neither of these reasons reflects poorly on the houses, but gives you an opportunity to negotiate.

There will also be new listings. Savvy home sellers want to take advantage of the low inventory and serious buyers. It’s a perfect time to match home buyers and home sellers who are ready to move on.

My advice to my clients has been and always will be to first work around your own schedule. You never know if your ideal home buyer / home seller has plans matching yours. Real estate surprises us regularly, as not everyone conforms to the same self-fulfilling prophecy, and not everyone celebrates the same holiday season.

(Coming in July 2013, an article entitled, “Boston Realtors Gone to Cape. Please Resume Your Real Estate Activity After Labor Day.”)

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Newton Houses in High Demand, But Are You Positioning Your Home Correctly?

November 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Newton real estate is in high demand and in analyzing the market for Newton houses; you find almost across the board, the market is favoring sellers. Inventory of houses on market in Newton is just meeting demand or falling shy of it in some price ranges.

The price range with most pressure is the $800,000-$899,999 price range in Newton, with only one month of inventory. Houses in this price range are sitting the least time on the market at only 51 days.

Alternatively, luxury Newton homes priced $3,000,000-$3,999,999 have 16 months of supply. This means the sellers can expect their house to sell in 16 months, even if their home is the best of the lot.

What does this mean to you if you are selling your house in Newton?

First, you can use this information to set expectations on roughly how long it will take to sell your home. The months of supply tell you if you have a lot or little competition in relation to the demand in recent months. Many people thing the average days on market is the best indication for how long it will take for a home to sell. But average days on market don’t always go hand in hand with months of supply.

Second, if you plan to price your home near the top or bottom of a price range, it may make sense to price higher or lower just a bit. For example, if you plan to price your Newton home just over $900,000, it may be worth to price your home at $899,999 where you’ll have less competition and more buyers.

No matter where your home is priced, and regardless of competition, there is a guaranteed way to a quicker and easier home sale. To beat the competition you must offer the best value in the price range. This doesn’t mean you should have the biggest, newest, prettiest house, but the one offering the most solutions for buyers for every dollar they spend.

Next, the house needs to be marketed correctly, online exposure being the single most important element of property marketing. Regardless of the low inventory and high demand, to attract a better buyer faster who’d pay top dollar for your home, your house must stand out in the crowd of 152 Newton houses.

A home priced correctly and marketed properly, should be the first one sold in the price range, within the period of months of supply. Newton houses may be a hot commodity in most price ranges, but there are still houses lingering on market for months without an offer. Don’t be the home seller of such a house.

Search Newton Houses

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Zen and the Art of Increasing Your Home’s Value

July 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Raising two kids and running two businesses, our home can get very messy, very fast. I used to easily fall into feeling overwhelmed and crowded in my own home, thinking it’s time to move and find more space. My temporary solution would be to do some cleaning-up, weeding out and organizing to feel better.

But in order to really fall in love with my West Roxbury home again I had to do a lot more. I started embracing aspects of minimalistic living, rethinking my relationship with all the stuff in our home. Inspired by the blog Zen Habits, the book The Joy of Less, and Throw Our Fifty Things (I only read the cover), I began the process.

For three months I set a goal of getting rid of fifty things monthly. Sounds hard? The first month was easy, the second required a little thought, and the third month was tougher but more fun than the previous two. It became a game, a personal challenge, and I found things accumulating dust and holding bad memories. Getting rid of those was liberating.

Changing my relationship with stuff has increased my home value in two ways. First, I fell in love with the space again. I enjoy the home more and feel no need to move in the foreseeable future. A larger home has no use or appeal anymore. This home is more valuable to me than ever.

The second way in which I’ve increased my home’s value is by the way it looks to others. With fewer things to store, there is more space to live. If we ever decide to sell, (or more likely rent), our home will be easier to present. Sure, we can prepare the home for sale, de-clutter and organize, but then we are faced with the challenge of storing things in the basement. We’ll feel uncomfortable without our usual things around us, rather than just living our normal daily lifestyle.

What we really want to do in our homes is enjoy time with family, play, dance, cook, eat, read, and sleep. The more stuff we have the more we spend our time at home cleaning, sorting, and organizing. I think of each possession, however small, as an added responsibility. As if just paying the mortgage isn’t a big enough responsibility!

It’s an ongoing process. I didn’t wake up one morning and enjoyed getting rid of things it took 36 years to accumulate. But now I can only recommend it. You can be liberated and find more value in your home.

Enjoy your day.

By the way, if you are thinking of buying a home soon, take a look at my post from last summer, when I began my process of de-cluttering. Minimalism to Home-Ownership talks about how to minimalism can help you become a homeowner faster.

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Brighton Condo Inventory and Time on Market

June 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This is not the first post I am writing about Brighton condo market getting tighter. A few weeks ago I wrote about dwindling inventory of condos available for sale and the huge drop in time on market, which I named, “Brighton Feels like 2004.”

Inventory and days on market go hand in hand. These indicators are usually interpreted as the homeowners’ belief in immanent rising prices. Time on market fell from 70 days on market in May 2010 to 33 days on market this past May.

Steady downward trend, with lower peaks and lower valleys.

Time on market for sold condos in Brighton.

 

If the claustrophobia in your Brighton condo is getting a bit much, give me a call at 617-291-0323. This may be your opportunity for a move-up.

 

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How to Choose a Listing Agent to Sell Your Home

June 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I hope you invest some time to look for the right listing agent to sell your home. You don’t want to be the one telling the story of how you hired your cousin’s connection who dabbles in real estate, or your agent is an out- of-town friend, or how you called just one of the big companies and hired whoever walked in the door.

At an average price of about $1,000,000 in the Brookline and Newton area, you’d think an approximate paycheck of $50,000 warrants some investigation. The truth is that many potential home are overwhelmed by the research, and some bully agents discourage it. Here are some tips to choosing the right real estate agent for you.

  1. Call several offices. Take the time and speak to a few companies. And don’t just stick to the two big ones in Chestnut hill, Brookline and Newton. Call some boutique agency, maybe a mid-sized office, or perhaps a brand new realty office just opened. This way you’ll get a variety of perspectives on the marketing options, and you’ll choose what you think works best. There are pros and cons to various sized companies, much of it depends on your comfort level and the agent representing the company.
  2. Remember, it’s about the agent. If you don’t like the agent, things will end badly regardless of the brokerage firm. You’ll be going on a long bumpy ride with this agent, so choose someone you feel is hard working, understands fiduciary obligations, and someone you’ll enjoy working with. Yes, it’s personal.
  3. What’s the marketing plan? You need a clear plan of action of how your home will be marketed. You need to know the marketing plan that will be implemented, and that your home’s sale is a top priority. What will be done, when will it be done, and by whom should all be answered. As Brian Tracy said, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” It always amazes me some agents are still “winging it.”
  4. Local market knowledge. It is vital a listing agent knows as much as possible about the local market. An agent planning on listing your home should have seen other homes in your neighborhood, and understand local housing trends. For example, the Newton market the past spring was extremely busy, and multiple offers very common. Yet the numbers show single family home prices are down in Newton about 10% this year. Does your agent know the seasonal price changes, and how it affects the pricing for your home?

The right listing agent will have a great marketing plan, in-depth knowledge of the local housing market, and the backing of a brokerage firm you like. But most importantly, your listing agent will be someone with whom you’ll feel comfortable and confident to make very big decisions.

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The Truth About Open Houses

June 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Home sellers: why are you pinning high expectations to open houses? Is this your idea or your agent’s? It is a mistake to think open houses are an important marketing strategy for your home to sell. Open houses are not so important. They haven’t been for years, since about 2006 in my opinion.

The real function of open houses is for agents to pick-up buyers. The majority of buyers walking through your house on Sunday afternoon are in the early stages of their home search. This makes for an excellent way for agents to meet buyers who are often unrepresented. The buyers usually expect this, as they are shopping around for a buyer agent, and for general neighborhood and market information.

The buyers coming to your house are shopping, but not for a home…not yet. When they enter the stage of readiness to buy, they’ll book a private showing.

Why have open houses lost their purpose as a main showcase for your home? First, let’s blame (or thank) the internet. With all the media available, buyers are able to learn a lot more about houses online. They don’t need to see fifty houses to learn what the market has to offer. Instead, they can view videos, pictures, floor plans and neighborhood information anytime, on a handy device, from anywhere.

Second, with the slow market of the past few years, buyers are less fearful of losing a home. If they can’t get to a home on Sunday, they’ll come see it on Monday or Thursday. There is more inventory and homes stay on market longer. What’s the rush?

But open houses are not a total waste of time for you. You should have your agent (or team member) host an open house occasionally. Open houses are a great way learn about the market. Agents share information about about open house traffic to gauge what is going on locally. In open houses we also hear honest feedback direct from buyers, which can be very helpful.

So don’t nix the open houses completely. Adjust your expectations instead, and ensure that the open houses are not your listing agent’s marketing tool of choice.

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7 Marketing Methods a Listing Agent Must Offer Before You Hire

May 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When interviewing listing agents to sell your home you’ll receive books with marketing plans telling you about all the amazing things the company will do for you. Some of it is great, some of it a bunch of nonsense, and the most important stuff won’t be in there at all.

There are essential marketing strategies that must be incorporated into promoting your home when it comes on market. Ensure all of this is included before you say “Yes” to any agent:

1. Professional photographs. Agents are not photographers, usually. I don’t care what camera an agent has, a professional photographer will do better. If you think this is not important, go online and look for yourself.
If you are selling a smaller home or condo, this service is even more important, although less likely to be available to you. Smaller spaced demand excellent photography, otherwise your home will look smaller in pictures.

2. Staging your home. There is always something to be done to improve how the home looks. This doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate, but your agent should either give you a to-do list of getting your home ready, or insist you hire a staging professional. Otherwise, the photos won’t look nice, buyers are less likely to come, and buyers will pay less for an un-staged home. You are losing thousands of dollars if you don’t invest the time and money to get the home ready to be photographed and shown.

3. Floor plans. Buyers looking online often have specifications they want and room dimensions are extremely helpful. For example, when a buyer needs a living room large enough for a grand piano, without a floor plan the listing will be skipped even if it is a perfect fit. Giving potential buyers and their agents as much information as possible helps bring the right buyers in and keep the wrong buyers from wasting your time.

4. Video. We love videos. So much information is consumed through video, and it is easier to connect with a property through a video.

5. Online Exposure. By far, the most important way to reach buyers is with online exposure to your home. Your agent must be aware of where the listing will be uploaded by MLS, or through the company through syndication, like Google Base, Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc. There are other sites, such as Craig’s list, that require a weekly update. And what about a single listing website? Those are a great way to promote a home on the market yet few agents are using this service. Ask what the agent and the company provide and how well they are versed with the online marketing strategies of listing a home. Keep away from anyone claiming technical ignorance. Failing to understand the internet’s role in marketing property unacceptable. You don’t have to know it, but your agent does.

6. Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Every agent will put your listing in to Multiple Listing Service. But how will it be done? MLS plays a huge role in the sale of your home. First, it is the means of communication with other agents. Second, it is sent directly to buyers. Third, it is syndicated to other popular websites where buyers search for homes. But put together a poor MLS listing, and you have squandered your most important marketing opportunity.

Bad MLS behavior includes posting a listing without photos, not including all information, poorly written or uninspiring description, or posting open houses late, (like Saturday night instead of Thursday morning). If your agent is not going to take MLS seriously, run.

7. Marketing to Agents. Marketing proposals from agents will say a lot about how to present homes to buyers. But the overwhelming majority of buyers will be represented by an agent. Everyone overlooks the importance of marketing direct to agents. A broker open house is just part of it. Other parts include flexibility to show the house, paying a premium commission and direct mailings to agents.

Marketing your home is the role of your listing agent. A marketing plan must include updated methods and a full spectrum of services. Think of every failure to meet one of the standards above as lost money, because it is.

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Three Reasons to Sell Your Brighton Condo Now

April 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Time to Sell?

It has been a tough ride for Brighton condo owners who have been on the fence about selling. The average time one lives in their first condo is about seven years, and many who bought in the boom are approaching, well, a bit of claustrophobia.

But the Brighton condo market has perked up as many first time home buyers are buying. If you have been on the fence about selling the condo, here are a few reasons to consider that now is the time.

1. Market is Hot! The Brighton condo market has been enjoying a lot of activity and we also see a bit of a pop in prices. If you’ve had a market analysis done a year or two ago, it is time for a new one. Contact your favorite agent, or shop around for someone who can give you a realistic selling price. You may be pleasantly surprised.

2. Move-Up Time! I assume if you are selling a condo, you’ll be buying another home. If so, this is your market. Even if you forgo some equity in your Brighton condo, your next home will have a very low mortgage rate, (probably lower than your current one, unless you refinanced recently). You can take advantage of an active local market, while where you move may only be starting to perk-up.

3. Conditions Will Change! The market is hot now, the mortgage rates are low now. Who knows for how long this window of opportunity will last. One year, maybe two? Do not wait for the boom market of the 2000′s, it is not coming back for a long time. Most likely your condo is worth less now than it did in 2007.

You probably loved seeing the value of your home going up and up. But just because it was worth $275,000 in 2008 does not mean it will sell for that in the next ten years. That valuation is meaningless now, as it was meaningless then if you were not in the market to sell. Do not get attached to the past value of the condo.

The questions you must ask yourself are; do I want to move? If so, can I afford it? Between a good Brighton real estate agent and a reliable mortgage broker, you can get answers to both.

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Choosing Your Boston Area Real Estate Broker: Big Chain or Small Local Firm?

April 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We are creatures of comfort. We tend to like the known and choose the familiar. This is true especially with big financial decisions, such as selling or buying a home.

In the Boston area you are blessed with seemingly endless options of real estate brokers to represent you. But when the same three companies are dominating your area’s for-sale signs, it is likely you’ll choose to call those three. I don’t blame you.

But here’s some insider information, from someone who has sold real estate in the Boston Area through three different real estate firms. Here some major differences between choosing a big chain or small local firm.
1. Customization. Big real estate firms offer some great services, but they’ll never truly customize to your needs. The offices streamline the business for good reason - efficiency, timeliness and organization. But in this need to avoid chaos, the individual need of the client is lost.

A small firm has much more flexibility, and thus a greater ability to market your home appropriately, and cater to buyer clients easily. No cookie-cutter marketing plans.

For example, I worked with a large agency and there were specific marketing steps to take, a checklist of materials and deadlines to meet. But many marketing methods were useless to the type of properties I was selling. I did not have the option to move the money from, say, newspaper ads to online exposure.

2. Agent Control. You’d think a big company would have more resources, and thus be able to meet your needs. In a large firm, the agent has company rules and timelines, less control over the transaction. In a small firm, the business is centered around the individual agents, giving the agent control.

If you were a repeat client and I wanted to give you a discount on commission, my large agency would cut my pay substantially. The company would not compromise over its share of the commission. After marketing expenses, I could be left with nothing.

3. The Office Space. Real estate offices of large firms, especially in the Boston Area, seem to be on a race of which is fancier and more modern. Sure they look nice, but do they have a purpose? Most real estate client meetings are not in the office, but in your homes or touring properties.

So next time you are impressed by the lobby of a big-name agency think about this: it’s there to attract the agents, more than anyone else. Real estate agencies must keep hiring agents all the time, it’s the most important job of the sales manager. A nice office surely helps.

This has nothing to do with the quality of service you get. Most agents are on the go with a smart phone. Busy agents are not in the office much. As my first manager used to say, “If you are in the office, you’re not selling real estate.”

4. Broker versus Agent. Large companies have call centers and agents on “floor duty,” answering the calls. As a seller, this is not good for you. Picture this: a potential buyer sees the sign or ad, calls up the company number, and one of two things happen. Either the buyer gets a call back a while later from the agent, or talks with a “floor duty” agent who has no connection to your home. This agent’s job is to pick-up business and sell that buyer anything, not your home.

Wouldn’t you rather have the buyer connect directly with your agent, intent on selling your home ASAP?

Next time you consider hiring a real estate broker in the Boston area, please consider to get out of the real estate comfort zone, and perhaps aspire to a for-sale sign that is not blue.

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Can I Trust My Real Estate Agent?

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In many countries and cultures the salesperson is not highly regarded. They are seen as swindlers, trying to get a commission at any cost. This often happens where there is little history of salesmanship, or little consumer protection.

Luckily, here in the United States, we respect the sales agent. We recognize that a sale is the first step of any transaction. Salespeople are often top earners in any industry and real estate agents have earned a commanding place in the economy.

I believe the overwhelming majority of real estate agents are trustworthy and will do their best for their clients. I am not saying they are great agents or skilled negotiators, I’m just saying their intention is to serve honestly and meet fiduciary obligations. Don’t forget we have enough liability that it is just not worth being slightly less than forthcoming.

In working with people from various cultures and immigrants from several countries, I learned that hiring a real estate agent goes against the common good sense for many. A deep distrust is hard to shake-off. Here are a few tips to find an agent that you can trust.

Ask for References - It is perfectly acceptable to ask for references. An agent should be happy to give references. Feel free to read testimonials, call past clients, and ask many questions.

Ask about Challenges - Every process has a challenge, every sales person has a weakness. We are not perfect and the most confident and trustworthy people will be open about that.

Use your own intuition - Most trust is built through simple rapport. That is how we build friendships and business associations. Use your own intuition about a salesperson like you would about any other person.

Be open about your reluctance - You can speak plainly about why it is difficult for you to hire an agent. If you are met with hostility and offense, then you are speaking with the wrong person. A trustworthy agent will be able to explain to you the different rules and regulations in real estate brokering, and be sensitive to your needs.

If you don’t understand something, say so! – A good agent will find a way to make things plain and clear, regardless of your language and cultural differences. Ask as many times as you need to have things clarified, a trustworthy agent wants to know that you have 100% understanding of what is going on.

Whether a discomfort with real estate agents is due to a cultural difference or a bad experience in the past, you can find someone who will be completely committed to representing your best interests.

Let me know if I can help you find the right agent. By Ruth Malkin-Lerner, Senior Associate, Dwell360

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